Submersible type pump



March 20, 1962 Filed June 3, 1957 H. H. WOLFE ETAL 3,025,800

SUBMERSIBLE TYPE PUMP 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.2

mao 42 Q INVENTOR H. HIX WOLFE EDWARD W HAAS ATTORNEY S March 20, 1962 H. H. WOLFE ETAL SUBMERSIBLE TYPE PUMP 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 5, 195'?- INVENT OR H. HIX WOLFE EDWARD W. HAAS 60 6 00 6 Q45 3 9 |l| M 3 2 6. 2M M 1 8 6 4. 5 4 2 a u w ATTORNEYS March 20, 1962 H. H. WOLFE ETAL SUBMERSIBLE TYPE PUMP Filed June a, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 62 INVENTOR H. HIX WOLFE EDWARD w. HAAS k 1 BY 4% M ATTORNEY S United States Patent @fifice 3,025,800 SUBMERSIBLE TYPE PUMP H. Hix Wolfe and Edward W. Haas, Dayton, Ohio, as-

signors to The Duro Co., Dayton, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed June 3, 1957, Ser. No. 663,118 2 Claims. (Cl. 103-408) This invention relates to pumps, particularly to submersible pumps and the like, and more particularly still to such pumps adapted for operation in submerged locations within well casings.

Submersible pumps are relatively well known and generally comprise a plurality of stacked centrifugal pumping sections adapted for being driven by a sealed motor attached directly to the pump and submerged in the water in the well therewith. Pumping structures of this nature have proved to be satisfactory and economical but require extremely careful design in order that the pump and motor combination will fit within a well casing of conventional size. For example, most well casings driven for supplying water to households are 4" inside diameter and the pump and motor must fit within this casing with suflicient clearance to permit ready flow of water to the pump.

Pumps of the nature referred to are quite often used in locations where there is sand and fines entrained in the water and this introduces the necessity of at least occasional servicing of the pump to maintain it in good operating condition.

Having the foregoing in mind, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a novel submersible pump structure which is of a minimum diameter and which can be serviced quite readily.

Another object of this invention is the provision of an improved and simplified arrangement for mounting a submersible pump within its casing so that the pump can easily be removed from the casing for service any time this becomes necessary.

A still further object is the provision of an improved arrangement for sealingly mounting the pumping units as described within the pump casing so that no leakage of fluid occurs at the high pressure end of the pump but wherein the pump can readily be removed from its casing at any time.

A still further object of this invention is the provision of an arrangement in a submersible pump having a pump casing wherein the threading of the pump casing is eliminated thereby reducing the cost of making the pump and also increasing the strength thereof.

These and other objects will become more apparent upon reference to the drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is a view showing a pump according to this invention submerged in a well casing;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken through the upper end of the pump drawn at larger scale than FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a view drawn at the same scale as FIG- URE 2 but showing the lower end of the pump in cross section and illustrating the driving connection between the pump drive shaft and the motor shaft;

FIGURE 4 is a view showing the pump partly disassembled;

FIGURE 5 is a plan view looking down on top of the pump as indicated by arrow 5 in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 6 is a plan section indicated by line 66 on FIGURE 2 showing the connection between the upper closure member of the pump and the pump casing;

FIGURE 7 is a cross-sectional view indicated by line 77 on FIGURE 2 showing the construction of the passages in a typical diffuser that directs pumped fluid from the outer periphery of a pumping stage to the eye of the next stage thereabout;

FIGURE 8 is a sectional view indicated by line 8-8 on FIGURE 2 showing the passages in one of the impellers of the pump;

FIGURE 9 is a cross-sectional view indicated by line 9-9 on FIGURE 3 showing the inlet openings into the pump and the upper end of the motor; and

FIGURE 10 is a fragmentary view drawn at enlarged scale showing the lower thrust washer pertaining to the impeller.

Referring to the drawings somewhat more in detail, FIGURE 1 shows a well casing 10 into which a submersible pump and motor combination according to the present invention is disposed by being attached to the lower end of the drop pipe 12 which serves to conduct the discharge from the pump upwardly through the well casing and out the upper end thereof.

The construction of the pump and motor combination will be seen in FIGURES 2 and 3 in connection with the detailed sections and in these views it will be noted that the motor 14 has a splined output shaft 16 extending out the upper end. The motor 14 is completely sealed and may contain its own lubricant supply or may be constructed in any known manner presently employed for motors usedin this kind of service.

The motor has studs 18 extending out the upper end and these studs are utilized for securing to the upper end of the motor the pump inlet fitting or base member 20 by means of nuts 22. Pump inlet or base member 2t}; as will be seen in FIGURE 9 has radial ribs 24 defining a plurality of inlet passages 26 leading inwardly to a central port or passage 28 leading upwardly to the top of the inlet member. A screen 30 surrounds the inlet member and thereby screens all of the inlet openings.

The inlet or base member 20 has a machined cylindrical part 32 at its upper end that receives the lower end of housing 38 by screws 40. Housing 38 is the housing for the first pumping stage of the pump and which pumping stage comprises a rotary impeller 42. Impeller 42 has a central downwardly extending fiange'forming an eye at 44 that fits into the central opening in the bottom Wall in housing 38 so that water will pass directly into the center of the impeller when'the pump operates.

According to the present invention, the'impeller has an annular bearing surface thereon at 46 and the bottom wall of housing 38 has an annular bearing surface 48 in .direct'oppositio'n to hearing 46. Abearing washer'50 is disposed between these surfaces and this bearing washer may advantageously comprise a plastic material exhibiting low surface friction characteristics suchas the plastics sold under the trade name Teflon or may comprise other good bearing materials, preferably such materials as will maintain. their bearing characteristics in the presence of water. Graphite of the nature sold under the trade name Graphitar will form a suitable material, for example. The plastic material is preferred for the thrust washer since it is highly resistant to breakage by impact, and thus has unlimited life.

As will be seen in FIGURE 10, the washer 50 is disposed within a recess bounded by its outer periphery by shoulder 51 so that the washer is substantially prevented from being extruded laterally by impact, and likewise will remain in place even if it should become broken. The arrangement illustrated also discourages sand and fines from getting beneath bearing washer 50 which might interfere with the eflicient operation of the pump. I

The upper end of housing 38 isformed with a shoul- Patented Mar. 20, 1962 heads are disposed der and engages a corresponding shoulder formed on the bottom surface of t he next housing member above housing member 38. This next housing member indicated at 52 is actually a diffuser and consists of an upper portion substantially identical with housing member 38; and, in addition thereto, has a lower part 54 comprising a fiat member disposed above the upper wall of the impeller therebeneath and connected with the bottom wall of the said housing part are arcuate ribs 56 which, as will be seen in FIGURE 7, form passageways for directing fluid inwardly to the eye of the pertaining impellers while simultaneously converting the velocity head of the fluid into a pressure head.

Toward the center part '54 has a sleeve like section 58 that extends axially upwardly into the eye of the pertaining impeller. This sleeve like section is arranged for receiving a cylindrical hub 60 extending upwardly from the back wall of the impeller of the preceding stage. The said impeller is thus rotatably supported and located within the pump.

The lower surface portion 54 and the upper surface of the impeller therebeneath are provided with opposed annular fiat areas 62 between which there is disposed a bearing washer 64 corresponding in nature to washer 50 previously described. The provision of the bearing surface on the washers provide for support of the impellers in a substantially friction-free manner while at the same time providing good fluid seals at the washers.

The impellers and diffusers are so machined and the thickness of the washers are so selected that when the pump is assembled the impellers are automatically located in their proper positions.

The driving of the several impellers is accomplished by a splined shaft 70 extending upwardly through the several hubs of the impellers and at its lower end being connected with a coupling arrangement comprising an outer sleeve 72 that is internally splined to engage splined output shaft 16 of the motor. Washer 74 is provided on the upper end of the shaft 16, and in this manner the splined shaft 70 is supported directly on the motor shaft while being held against radial movement by the several impellers which it drivingly engages. 'No other support of shaft 70 is necessary.

It is preferable for the lower end of shaft 70 to be surrounded by sleeve 76 which 'merely fits loosely over the shaft and has at least a small clearance beneath impeller 42. A sleeve 76 prevents the shaft 70 from creeping upwardly when the pump is in operation, which might bring about disconnection of coupling 72 from motor shaft 16.

As many of the pumping stages are stacked together as is necessary, and at the extreme upper end at the series of stacked pumping stages there is a top diffuser assembly 80 corresponding to the diffuser previous-1y referred to except that there is no impeller located in the top diffuser.

assembly. Instead, the diffuser passages 82 lead inwardly to an outlet opening 84 so that the pumped fluid is discharged upwardly to the center of the pump cap 86.

The top diffuser assembly is provided with a recess 88 into which is fitted a ring 90 so that between the upper surface of the main body of the diffuser assembly and beneath ring 90 there is retained an annular rubber-like O ring 92. This ring is ordinarily of such a size to slip easily inside pump casing 34. However, when 0 ring 92 is compressed, it expands radially outwardly and forms a tight fit sealingly engaging the inside surface of casing 34.

The main part of the diffuser assembly '80 has a pair of upstanding bosses 94 drilled and threaded for receiving screws 96. Beneath these screws are washers that overhang an inwardly projecting ledge on member 90 so positioned relative to the washers that the ledge will not engage the washers until pressure is relieved from 0 ring 92. The screws and washers thus merely retain the diffuser assembly 80 in assembledrelation.

The ring is pressed downwardly to expand 0 ring 92 and also to clamp all of the several stages of the pump together by plungers extending through axial bores in pump cap 86 and which bores terminate at the upper end in threaded counter-bores 10-2 that receive cap screws 104 that can be turned by a wrench to thrust plungers 100 downwardly thus to put pressure on ring 90 and therethrough on O ring 92.

Smaller 0 rings 106 seal about plungers 100 and an 0 ring 108 seals about the lower part of the top cap.

The top cap 86, similarly to the pump base or inlet member 20, is attached to casing 34 by the socket head cap screws 110 that are threaded into the pump cap with the heads thereon being disposed in holes in the pump casing.

The cap preferably has a valve seat 112 therein adapted for engagement by 0 ring 114 carried by valve member 116 located in the central bore of the top cap of the pump cap and retained therein by transverse pin 118. The described valve serves as a foot valve so as to retain the conduit 12 filled with liquid.

The supply of electrical energy to the motor 14 is accomplished by a cable 120 that extends down the side of the pump casing inside a metal channel 122.

A particularly important feature of the present invention resides in the great simplicity with which the pump can be assembled and disassembled. This case of disassembly will obtain even after the pump is submerged for a long period of time. The disassembling of the pump, and which is merely the reverse of assembling thereof, is somewhat diagrammatically illustrated in FIGURE 4. The entire pump and motor is first withdrawn from the well casing which can readily be done by utilizing drop pipe 12. After the assembly has been pulled out of the well, the cap screws 104 are backed off about as shown in FIGURE 4. This will relieve the pressure on ring 90 thus permitting O ring 92 to collapse inside casing 34. The backing off of the cap screws 104 also relieves the pump cap 86 of any axial forces and this permits ready removal of the cap screws 110. After cap screws 110 are removed pump cap 86 can readily be withdrawn from the pump casing and then the entire pumping assembly can be withdrawn from casing 34 as illustrated in FIGURE 4 leaving only the bottom housing member 38 in place. All of the running parts of the pump can thus readily be removed for inspection, repair or replacement in a quite simple manner.

The assembling of the pump, after it has been put in proper condition is accomplished by carrying out the foregoing steps in the reverse order and which will again restore all parts of the pump to their original position within the pump casing.

It will be evident from the foregoing that the pump structure of the present invention is characterized in great ease of assembly and disassembly and that there are no fine threads to become corroded from long exposure but that all screw threaded members that must be moved in order to permit disassembly of the pumpare so located and so constructed that the threads areprotected and so that strong'turning forces can be exerted thereon by conventional wrenches and the like when. the pump is to be disassembled.

The pump casing is not required to have expensive internal and external threads and which threads, in addition to being expensive also tend to weaken the pump casing but, instead the pump casing is merely a smooth tubular sleeve, preferably of brass, having holes drilled at its opposite ends for the heads of the retaining cap screws.

It will be understood that this invention is susceptible to modification in order to adapt it to different usages and conditions; and, accordingly, it is desired to comprehend such modifications within this invention as may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a submersible pump; a pump casing, a pump base at the bottom of the casing, a plurality of diffusers in the casing in stacked interlocking coaxial relation, an impeller rotatably mounted within each diffuser, antifriction washer means between each impeller and the adjacent diflusers, a splined shaft extending axially through said impellers and receiving its entire radial support therefrom, a coupling fixed to the lower end of the shaft adapted for effecting driving connection thereof With a motor shaft and larger than the shaft whereby to be engageable with the lowermost impeller to retain the impeller on the shaft, means extending radially from the upper end of the shaft for retaining the uppermost diffuser thereon so that the stacked pumping units form a unitary assembly, a metal ring resting on the upper diffuser and forming an outwardly opening annular channel therewith, means connecting the metal ring to the upper diffuser while permitting axial movement of the ring, a resilient rubber-like ring in said channel, a cap adapted for connection to a discharge conduit attached to the upper end of the casing, and means screw-threadedly extending through the cap adapted for being pressed against said metal ring thereby to compress the said resilient rubber-like ring and force the said resilient rubber-like ring into sealing engagement with the inside of said casing, said last mentioned means being independent of the means attaching the cap to the casing.

2. In a submersible pump; a cylindrical sleeve forming a pump casing, a pump base fitting into the bottom of said casing, cap screws threaded radially into said pump base and having their heads disposed partly in said base and partly in said casing thus fixing the base to the casing, a plurality of stacked pumping units in said casing, each unit comprising a diffuser and an impeller rotatable in the diflfuser, each impeller having a hub journalled in a diffuser, anti-friction washers between each impeller and the adjacent diffusers, a drive shaft extending through the impellers and splined thereto for driving them in rotation,

said drive shaft receiving its entire radial support from said impellers, a cap fitted into the upper end of said casing, cap screws threaded radially into said cap and having their heads partly Within the cap and partly within the casing, a ring carried on top of the uppermost diffuser and forming therewith an outwardly opening annular groove, a rubber-like O ring in said groove normally disposed completely within the groove, rods extending through the cap and abutting said ring, and cap screws in the cap for pressing the rods downwardly thereby to cause said ring to compress said O ring and expand the O ring outwardly into sealing engagement with the pump casing while simultaneously clamping said pumping units tightly together, said shaft having means at its lower end slidably engaging a motor shaft to derive power therefrom and preventing the shaft from being pulled upwardly through the impellers and having means at its upper end preventing the diffusers from being pulled upwardly from the shaft whereby the stacked pumping units form a single sub-assembly.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,267,180 Burress May 21, 1918 2,270,666 Arutunoif Jan. 20, 1942 2,366,964 Howard Jan. 9, 1945 2,651,271 Gaubatz Sept. 15, 1953 2,657,633 Baker et a1. Nov. 3, 1953 2,667,128 Bergh Jan. 26, 1954 2,775,945 Arutunoff Jan. 1, 1957 2,816,509 Rice Dec. :17, 1957 2,854,926 Haight et a1 Oct. 7, 1958 2,954,739 Lung Oct. 4, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 17,283 Great Britain of 1915 391,413 France May 25, 1918 772,654 Great Britain Apr. 17, 1957 906,894

Germany Aug. 6, 1956 

